The U.S. Senate has approved legislation funding NOAA Fisheries, as well as several major federal departments, through the remainder of fiscal year 2026 in an overwhelming 82-15 vote.
The legislation next goes to U.S. President Donald Trump to be signed into law.
Lawmakers are playing catch-up after missing their 1 October 2025 deadline to pass appropriations legislation funding the federal government for fiscal year 2026. Congress was finally able to end a partial government shutdown that lasted several weeks in November, passing a temporary spending bill to reopen the government. With that funding set to expire 30 January 2026, leaders in Congress are pushing to pass multiple appropriations packages to avoid another government shutdown and get the appropriations process back on track.
The “minibus” of appropriations bills passed by the Senate on 15 January includes funding for the federal departments of Justice, Interior, Energy, and Commerce, the latter of which houses NOAA Fisheries. The House passed the legislation earlier in January.
The bipartisan appropriations package largely rejects the steep spending cuts sought by the president, including a more than 30 percent cut to NOAA Fisheries. The legislation includes USD 1.12 billion (EUR 955 million) for the agency – which would be effectively flat from fiscal year 2024 spending levels.
“Today, we sent funding bills to the president’s desk that reject the steep cuts he wanted and protect investments that families across America depend on every day,” U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington), who serves as vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement. “This package saves a key program to save families on their energy bills, sustains our investments in scientific research, and protects essential funding for our public lands and Tribes, among so much else. Passing these bills reasserts Congress’ power of the purse and will prevent this administration from having the legal authority to decide for itself how to spend these taxpayer funds again. Democrats will keep fighting to protect investments in the American people – and I look forward to getting the rest of our bills across the finish line.”
U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, highlighted multiple provisions she claimed would support Maine's lobster industry, including USD 30 million (EUR 26 million) for North Atlantic right whale research and monitoring and USD 80 million (EUR 69 million) for the National Sea Grant Program.
“This funding will support Maine’s lobster industry by improving the incomplete and imprecise science and research upon which the federal government relies. The flawed data being used to inform regulations has created unnecessary, burdensome requirements for Maine lobstermen and women,” Collins said. “As chair of the Appropriations Committee, I worked hard to ensure this funding was included in the final funding bill.”
Collins had previously questioned U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick over a 2021 biological opinion that imposed strict regulations on the lobster industry in order to protect North Atlantic right whales. A court ultimately determined that NOAA Fisheries had gone too far in utilizing worst-case scenarios in the documentation and vacated the biological opinion.
The appropriations minibus also includes more than USD 105 million (EUR 90 million) in earmarked NOAA spending. That funding will go toward community projects hand-selected by lawmakers for their respective states, with many of the projects chosen focused on fisheries and aquaculture.
Lawmakers still need to pass appropriations for several major departments, including the U.S. Department of Defense.
